The president's reaction to Robert Mueller's death underscores how far American political culture has drifted from the values Mueller embodied.

New leaders often undermine their own credibility by announcing organizational change too soon, before establishing trust and rapport with their team. Successful transformation depends on choosing the right moment, framing change around shifting circumstances rather than employee performance, honoring an organization's past successes, and genuinely committing to collaboration rather than acting unilaterally.

Decades of focus on leadership education have left an equally important skill, followership, largely unaddressed, even though every leader is also a follower at some point. Five tenets define good followership — respect for authority, candid advice, advocating for decisions as one's own, humility, and self-control — and leaders who model poor followership toward their own bosses give their teams license to do the same.

Access to strong professional networks and mentorship, more than training alone, often makes the decisive difference in an aspiring leader's career, and this access remains unevenly distributed. Established leaders have a responsibility to take the initiative in reaching out to mentor others, since good mentorship tends to create a virtuous cycle where mentees become mentors themselves.